Tower Models

"Sivert has long worked with the tower structure as an idea to explore. The towers he has investigated primarily represent the very act of rising in relation to their surroundings. The tower can, if one so wishes, be regarded as a larger emblem for the smaller structure – the plinth.

The plinth can be seen as a symbolic connection between the ground and that which is to be supported. In urban spaces, plinths traditionally serve as bearers of busts depicting notable persons or of sculptures portraying them in imposing poses.

Regarding the classical plinth, Palladio writes in the first book on architecture:
“We have a lowest member which possibly expresses anchorage in the ground and stability. We have an uppermost member which, with a similarly projecting gesture, expresses support and constitutes the plinth’s upward termination. Finally, an intermediate member whose body lies somewhat recessed from the uppermost and the lowest. The intermediate member constitutes the plinth’s trunk, makes up the majority of its mass, and gives the whole its elevation.”

Visualizing the anchorage in the ground, in Mother Earth, holds high symbolic value and is something archetypal. This applies to building plinths as well as sculpture plinths.

In the buildings of classical antiquity, the plinth primarily appears as a building-related component or as an integrated part of the temple structure. The columns then rest on the three steps of the stylobate. At the top, the architrave supports the object. This, in turn, rests on a triglyph and often features a metope frieze. The metopes consist of reliefs or a free frieze depicting contemporary heroes in various situations. The frieze and the architrave together form a visual base for the fully sculpted gods placed in the tympanum.

Sivert's plinths, or towers, emphasize nothing other than the tower itself. The conventions of the time influence how a tower is perceived. The same applies when the structure is lower and is rather perceived as a plinth. Regardless of height, these constructions undeniably have more functions than the primary task of supporting something on top of them.

They create an anchorage to the place. The ground around the tower separates the sculpture from its surroundings and forms a space-defining boundary. At the same time, the tower or plinth becomes a focal point in a larger context.
The word 'sockel', or the Latin 'socculus', means – small shoe."
/JÖ